If I had to choose between the beauty and the weirdness of great faraway cities, I’d take the weirdness any day. Happily there’s no need to choose.

The situation is really no different in close-to-home cities and non-cities, great or small. But travel seems to heighten one’s awareness of details, patterns, juxtapositions. It’s the magic of the unfamiliar, fueled by abundant espresso.

I doubt I see as deeply in new surroundings as I do in my native landscape. But I’m often more taken by surprises found on unfamiliar surfaces. And photography is a fine medium for exploring surfaces.